Maintenence made Easier, New Lift Table.

[X-Ray]

Well, bought myself an early birthday pressie, its a nice new Moto Max hydraulic lift table for the FJ. Bought it off Ebay, ($399.00) its well made, extremely HEAVY, and it works with both the foot pedal to raise and compressed air. There was a little bit of assembly, paint is nice and thick, I'm happy. I did say to Mrs Ray that this was not only for the FJ, you could use it as a work table to pot plants, paint things, groom the dog etc etc, all with a cover on it of course,     It will go up to 840mm high, which is plenty, and the safety lock is at the 760mm mark which is also plenty.




It was interesting getting the bike up the first couple of times. Theres not really a way to put the centre stand down without something to stand on, like this old pot plant rack, just the right height!. With the bike in the middle of the table, the sidestand will not go down as it misses the table, unless the bike is placed on the far right of the table. Of course as soon as you do use the centre stand, the front wheel pulls back from the clamp support.


Having somewhere to put nuts/bolts etc instead of on the floor where they get kicked to the sh%thouse while stumbling around will be a major benefit for me,  


The rear loading ramp simply slides off/on to give good access if needed.


This the main safetly lock, just slide the metal bar in place. There is also another lock through the top of the table. The front wind down supports raise the front castors off the ground, although I did find I still needed chocks to stop it all sliding away while rolling the FJ up the ramp.

Nice table, it will certainly outlast me. Even when raised it was all nice and sturdy, I might still add a small section of plate steel where the 2 centrestand contact points are, just to distribute the weight more. Just noticed a rear suspension squeak as well, this arrived just in time  

[ribbert]

Ray, you are gonna loooooove this.

I expect a raving report shortly about how good it is.

You have made the same discoveries I did. If you have a centre stand, use it. Yes, you do need something to stand on at table height to put it on the stand or invest in a hernia belt.
The wind down legs are useless and will eventually bend, I use a piece of 8mm dowel under the back wheels. It's better chocking the back wheels because they have the weight on them when you're running it up the ramp. That air hose is a bloody nuisance. It always gets under the wheels when you roll it around. DON'T hang it from part of the bike to get it out of the way, you will forget then raise the table, or so I've heard. After the novelty wears off you will end up always using the foot pedal anyway.

The FJ is the best thing I have bought in the last 20 years, this is the second best!

Noel

[FJSpringy]

noice    can't wait to see it all painted in matching colours 

[The General]

Looks like it needs a Christening with some sorta family gathering - on a Sunday. 

[baldy3853]

  Ray
use tie downs roll it all the way forward & once you have it tied down then clamp it in place with the front wheel, then you don't need to use the center stand 
Baldy

[flips]

G'day Ray!

Nice!.I like the very clever explanation of multiple uses to Mrs Ray 
I noticed the chainsaw on the floor.I hope your not planning any street fighter mods! 

Cheers 

Jeff P

[ribbert]

Ray
use tie downs roll it all the way forward & once you have it tied down then clamp it in place with the front wheel, then you don't need to use the center stand 
Baldy

That sort of defeats the purpose a bit. You can't lube or adjust the chain, clean the wheels, raise the front, turn the bars, work on suspension and it makes putting the bike on a hassle. As the clamp won't hold the bike upright I'm not sure how you would even manage that single handed.

I put mine up most weeks after a ride for cleaning and leave it there until the next ride in case I want to fiddle with it through the week or feel like a bit of cleaning and polishing as I'm walking past.
It's as stable on the centre stand up there as it is on the floor and I wheel mine around on the table.

Noel

[Tiger]

  I've had mine for a few years now and wish I had bought one years earlier!!!

John.

[Firehawk068]

I've wanted one of these for years...............I keep putting it off, and putting it off...............maybe this year!

[X-Ray]

Heh Heh, that chainsaw is for wood only Jeff. I was wondering about the tie downs Lord Baldy, and the only time I think I would use them would be to pull the back end down to raise the front wheel for removal/fork work. As Noel said they are pretty stable, and it would actually be pretty easy to remove BOTH wheels at the same time if you needed to using this method as well. (I keep thinking up all these things to do now, lol)

Once I get rid of the camper trailer in the shed I'll have a heap more room to move around, can't wait.  Thanks for the tip earlier about the table length Noel, I can now see the shorter 1500mm table would have been next to useless, really need a minimum 1800 actual table length I think.

Talk about painting it in matching colours Springy, mate at work decided the FJ should match the yellow table, so he doctored the photo so the FJ now had lovely "bright" coloured paintwork that wouldn't look out of place at the Sydney Mardi-Gras,  ,   No respect from some people.

[ribbert]

I've wanted one of these for years...............I keep putting it off, and putting it off...............maybe this year!

No no no, get it off your "maybe" list or it won't happen this year either.

Just do it. I imagine they are pretty cheap in the States.


I swear when you finally get one you will kick yourself for not doing it sooner.

Noel

[ribbert]

Ray, I raise both the wheels at once every time I wash it, I use a bottle jack under the lug in front of the sump plug.

Noel

[FeralJuggernaut]

Yours is wicked nice!!    I picked up the cheap Harbor Freight model on sale with a couupin and I will concur that it is a brilliant bit o kit!!    My little trick...   put it up on the center stand and then put a ratchet tie-down on the cross bar of the center stand and the other on the front of the lift.   Then basically drag it forward to get the front tire into the clamp.   When it is time to get it back down, I use a rear stand to get the back tire in air along with the C/S and fold it up and let it back down gently.   I do admit I have a helper/spotter when doing the balancing act transitions.   I was amazed at all the tasks I can't do when the bike is at full height!     If you have the space for it, you wont regret it after using it the first time.  Justify it in your tool budget and your back will thank you from that moment forward.   You will then look for a nice shop stool on wheels to compliment the new lift.   I believe in the tie downs as well for extra stability.

[biggo]

Great addition to anyones shed in my opinion.
Bought mine 2nd hand dont know how I lived without it , helps with my creaking knee,s 



When doing work on front of bike I found easiest thing for me is to use the centre stand and hold the back down with tie downs.  I did use a small hydraulic jack but it when down over a weekend luckily no damage just look a bit precarious when I saw it   

[X-Ray]

Looks great!.  Exactly how I thought about using the tie downs etc for when I service my forks soon.
Only thing is your garage is way too clean, I am now going out into my shed to throw out a lot of junk that should have been chucked a long time ago,